Reddit mentions of GreenClean Granular Algaecide - 8 lbs - String Algae Control for Koi Pond, Fountain, Waterfall, Water Features on Contact. EPA Registered

Thank you for this awesome reply!

I have not seen the pond in warm weather yet… it’s only gotten up to around 65 degrees F here this year, so there’s a definite possibility that some algae bloom is on the horizon. Is it safe to use an algaecide like this if algae does start to bloom?

Have you heard of Muck Away or Pond Clear? Both products look interesting, and I’m trying to figure out if they’re really as harmless as they sound.

I probably will leave the leaves on the banks for a few days to spare the frogs (I’m a bleeding heart, what can I say). This shouldn’t negatively impact the ducks either, right? It’s just the one pair.

I’ve been reading a bunch, and it sounds like a combination of Muck Away, Pond Clear, and some serious quality raking time, I could probably get a pretty good handle on the situation myself.

We may end up paying someone to come and do it, but it would be pretty difficult to access the area with large equipment for professional dredging due to where the house and septic system are located. Or is this something I could pay a team of guys to do with rakes?

You're welcome I hope it willbe useful!

>Thank you for this awesome reply!

>I have not seen the pond in warm weather yet… it’s only gotten up to around 65 degrees F here this year, so there’s a definite possibility that some algae bloom is on the horizon. Is it safe to use an algaecide like this if algae does start to bloom?

It will probably work, you'll need a lot though. This will treat 60 m3/container and your ponds is at least 180 m3, so it's 150 bucks. And products like this kill the algae and might prevent some growth, but pretty soon the product is diluted enough so the algae will just grow back. Meaning you'll probably have to repeat it a few times each growth season. Removing the root cause might be more cost effective. If I were to guess the main ingredient is hydrogen peroxide (diluted) which isn't extremely damaging if diluted enough.

>Have you heard of [Muck Away]http://www.amazon.com/Pond-Logic-MuckAway-16-Scoops/dp/B0015AMEDK) or Pond Clear? Both products look interesting, and I’m trying to figure out if they’re really as harmless as they sound.

No I haven't! If they do what they promise, that would be amazing. I'm a bit suspicious though. I work on solving algae problems a lot and I've never encountered a product like this in the professional field. Ingredients aren't listed unfortunately. As far as I know, there are no bacteria that remove nutrients from the water effectively. Nitrogen, yes, that's possible (bacteria can form nitrogen gasses under certain conditions and it will be released into the air), phosphorus, no. That's chemically impossible. And phosphorus is the major problem for algal blooms seeing how cyanobacteria can fixate nitrogen from the air. What could be is that iron is added to the mix. Iron forms a bond with phosphates but this bond isn't very stable (risky). Bacteria involved in breaking down organic matter won't remove phosphorus. Your sediment will still be eutrophic, just not very organic. Same goes here, it will be a repeating process (yearly investment) while you can fix it up and be done with it for a slightly higher investment and some small scale maintanance.

>I probably will leave the leaves on the banks for a few days to spare the frogs (I’m a bleeding heart, what can I say). This shouldn’t negatively impact the ducks either, right? It’s just the one pair.

My guess is the ducks will be more or less unphased. You might scare them off but your dog might also do whether you remove the leaves or not. Most likely they'll return. If you're an animal friend, don't feed them bread btw.

>I’ve been reading a bunch, and it sounds like a combination of Muck Away, Pond Clear, and some serious quality raking time, I could probably get a pretty good handle on the situation myself.

>We may end up paying someone to come and do it, but it would be pretty difficult to access the area with large equipment for professional dredging due to where the house and septic system are located. Or is this something I could pay a team of guys to do with rakes?

You could pay a few guys with rakes but it will require a lot of man hours (difficult to guess, I'd say up to 40 hours) which at a (relatively cheap) rate of 50 bucks / hour would cost you 2000. A friend and a free weekend could save you that amount of money. Professional equipment doesn't have to be actual dredging equipment (boats / trucks) but a professional version of the pond vacuum will do. A landscaping company that does ponds should have something like that. Maybe you can even rent one at your local hardware store.

Good luck!